1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to resetting gun targets.
2. Description of the Related Art
Target shooting has continued to grow in popularity in recent years. In the United States alone, a recent study revealed that more than 20 million people went target shooting in 2011, with an average of 22 days per shooter. The amount of money spent by those shooting participants on target shooting-related equipment was estimated to be around 10 Billion dollars.
Targets are used in shooting ranges to add an element of purpose, measurability, and interest to the sport. Paper and breakable targets provide limited utility as once they are utilized, they have to be replaced, which would require shooters to have to go down range and reset/replace the targets. This is potentially harmful as well as inconvenient to recreational shooters. Thus, for these and other important safety reasons, shooting ranges are engineered to prohibit shooters from entering the range and retrieving or replacing the targets. Rather, expensive automated target retrieval systems are often provided to allow shooters to replace targets, which increase the cost of the sport significantly.
Resetting targets are targets that automatically reset themselves and sustain little to no damage when hit by projectiles, such as bullets. However, many existing resetting targets have springs, linkages, and/or other components that can break or corrode over time because they are either too expensive or incapable of being made out of materials that can stand up to gunfire, thereby limiting their utility and safety advantage. For instance, some resetting targets use swinging target elements which hang from a cross-support. The attachment points of the swinging target elements tend to be weaker and can break if directly hit by gunfire and/or have corroded. Moreover, these resetting targets require a heavy, bulky support structure that is difficult to transport and requires the use of more bullet proof material in order to stand up to gunfire, thereby increasing their cost.
In addition, many resetting targets are stationary and do not provide the experience of having the shooter reacquire their target. They are also less safe as they do not move with the impact of the bullet, thereby increasing the likelihood of ricochet.